Things to Do in Galena, Illinois

Galena residents gave this furnished brick house to Grant in 1865, when he came home from the Civil War. It was built in 1859 and 1860 and has been a memorial since 1904. Many furnishings belonged to the Grant family, and the house is set up as it looked in the mid-1860s.

★ Good to know It’s open Wednesday through Sunday, with tours of up to 16 people and short waits, so skip Monday and Tuesday.

Main Street has more than 125 shops and restaurants in red brick buildings, most from the 1840s, and no chain stores. The street’s gentle bend is rare in American towns and gives it much of its look. The DeSoto House Hotel here is billed as the oldest operating hotel in Illinois.

★ Good to know The Haunted Galena Tour Company stages an evening of ghost stories and local history inside the DeSoto House.

Congressman Elihu Washburne’s Greek Revival house at 908 Third St. dates to 1844 and 1845 and was enlarged in 1859. It has a two-story porch with four fluted Doric columns. The state runs it as a historic site alongside the Grant Home.

★ Good to know It opens May through October only, on Friday afternoons and Saturday mornings, for a suggested donation.

Built in 1826 and 1827, the stone Dowling House at 220 Diagonal St. is the oldest building in Galena. It’s a good starting point for walking the hillside streets above Main. The 1858 Customs House and Post Office and the Flatiron Building at Main and Diagonal are close by.

★ Good to know Pick up maps at the visitor center at 101 Bouthillier St. before you set out.

This wooded trail follows the river the lead boats once used. It passes through tunnels and wetlands, under limestone cliffs and over bridges across streams. Bald eagles show up along the river.

★ Good to know Area bike rentals include e-bikes, tandems and fat-tire bikes.

This is the place for downhill skiing and snowboarding near Galena, with a 475-foot vertical drop and views of the Mississippi River. Galena Country’s nature preserves add cross-country ski trails in winter.

★ Good to know Ski season depends on snow and cold, so check the resort’s conditions before you drive.

In nearby Elizabeth, southeast of Galena, costumed interpreters bring 1830s frontier life to the reconstructed fort. It pairs well with the Elizabeth History Museum in the same town.

★ Good to know Elizabeth also has Elizabeth’s Grand Antique Co., one of the region’s largest antique malls.